Simply the best......

......Tina Turner, well no not this time. In fact its a Brian Rafferty image of a male Sparrowhawk and in my opinion this is simply the best photograph anyone could ever wish to achieve of this stunning hawk......Thanks BR keep 'em cumin.

Well this post is just an exercise to keep the blog from freezing up until I can get back to the real world and birding, and so for my next trick what about this 'unusual' Pied Wagtail courtesy of Warren Baker.

And finally......I had an hour to 'kill' in Morecambe this afternoon and if you're going to find yourself in situations like this and want to be called a 'birder' then you really have to be sure you always have your bino's with you. So I wandered down the Stone Jetty and pleased myself with a Rock Pipit - something of a rarity in the recording area - a Wheatear, 2 Bar - tailed Godwit, about 8 Turnstone - I'm sure there were more - and c.10 Eider and I'm sure there were more of those too. One hours birding since last Friday......Oh dear!

On The Up!

Being grounded until at least Thursday this week (bring out the antidepressants) for reasons way beyond my control I had to fill in some time available to post an article on the excellent news that fears over the breeding failures of Scotland's seabird colonies have been somewhat calmed having had their most productive year in almost a decade. Having had a serious rat eradication campaign Ailsa Craig has reported an increase in Gannet pairs to 30,000, 50 pairs of Puffin have also established themselves here.

The struggle to have any chicks fledged by these seabird colonies in recent years is squarely pinned on the decline of the Sand Eel, and what birds did manage to hatch their chicks were attempting to feed them on the nourishment-poor Pipefish which resulted in very little fledging. Because of an apparent plentiful supply of Sand Eel the Arctic Tern at North Hill in Orkney fledged at least 220 chicks this year as opposed to the nightmare of 2008 when the colony produced not a solitary one. However, whilst the obvious optimism is high its a little short lived when you consider the colony could fledge over 1,000 birds in the peak of the 1980's, but optimism grows once more when you hear that Fowlsheugh in Aberdeenshire, Mull of Galloway, and Dumfries and Galloway have also had an increase in their cliff-nesting species.

We keep having to return to the fact that several species are still severely depleted, but Guillemot, Razorbill and Kittiwake have all managed better breeding success this year. The reasons behind this turnaround are as yet unknown but could be the result of changes in sea surface temperature in late winter/early spring bringing about a much improved production of the Sand Eel. I don't think Birds2blog is the place to address political issues but there's a serious decline still indicated by long term trends and there is an underlying importance of controlling over-fishing, pollution, development and industry, and Britain's rich undersea wildlife is still in serious need of protection and lots of it.

The photographs in the post are all credited to David Cookson who - along with many other excellent photographers work I greatly admire - I appreciate allowing me to use them......Thanks David.

British Telecom?

With BT today you sometimes don't get very far and don't cover much ground with BT but its always good to be in the company of someone who generally knows what he's talking about when it comes to our wildlife and certainly helps me along the way to learning......I'm always up for learning. Today we got no further than Foulshaw Moss, OK this place like anywhere else has its qualities and on arriving here I immediately found 4 Stonechat before getting out of the car which I hoped had set us up for an interesting visit with more to come, but despite the lengthy time spent here these were the only ones seen. There was a good number of Black Darter showing despite the 'back end' weather, also the odd Common Darter seen too. One of those interesting mixed flocks at this time of the year was observed but unfortunately hadn't attracted a YBW to them but Willow Warbler, Long - tailed Tit, Blue Tit, and Chaffinch were all there, a Grey Wagtail was unringed I noted, a Reed Bunting, Great - spotted Woodpecker, and 3 Buzzard all went into the book.

Common Lizard at Foulshaw Moss.

On our way to Foulshaw Moss we called at High Foulshaw and found a frustrating distant mixed flock, the ones of which we could ID - but couldn't number - were, Goldfinch, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipit, and at least one almost certain Redpoll, an estimated good number of 100+ Swallows were hawking insects attracted to a field of cattle.

Common Darter on the boardwalk at Foulshaw Moss.

I really should apologise for the photographic quality of today's pic's. I did try my best but being the first to criticise anyone else's photographs these can only at best be described as moderate.

Editing the post to add news of 500 - 600 Clouded Yellow (being a reasonable estimate) at Birling Gap in Sussex yesterday.

Good to be back......

......on the patch again. But first lets deal with the pic to accompany the post which is an excellent image of the Snipe by kind permission of David Cookson. Well my photographic contacts never produce anything other than excellence, thanks once again David.

With JB today starting at Conder Green where 2 Spotted Redshank today were last seen together on 4 September, a Greenshank and Common Sandpiper - is it too early to wonder if this/one is going to winter here again this year - up to 300 Goldfinch again, 45 Wigeon in the channel, 3 Jay over the pool isn't your average sighting here or elsewhere for that matter, and the 3 Little Grebe again on the pool. At Glasson Dock on the Lune Estuary 2 Greenshank, c.400 Redshank, single Red - breasted Merganser and Goosander, otherwise the area was pretty short on birds and unremarkable. From Bodie Hill 2 Little Egret were in the Bazil Point area, and on Jeremy Lane up to 30 Golden Plover were in a field with Lapwing. As we approached Gardners Farm on Moss Lane at least 30 House Sparrow were to note, and a 'few' Swallow are still around here with at least one young bird begging on the wires, conversely they seem to have departed Banks Houses and I recall only seeing a couple more all day, having said that I wouldn't like to have been a migrant bird in this neck of the woods - or probably any other - today. A brief visit to Cockersands produced two of the ever reliable Wheatear and c.28 Eider off Plover Scar.

On Pilling Marsh probably a few more Pink - footed Geese to add to last Thursdays 145 but some hidden in the channel, also a Little Egret to note. A run to Knott End had a worse result than my Monday visit in that the Eider count was down to c.35 today. Cockers Dyke showed an adult Mediterranean Gull.

An enjoyable days birding as ever but which just leaves you with the feeling that our West Coast is never going to be the East Coast.

Hide and Seek!

Well seek from the hide actually. Having taken the weather forecast too serious and it turning out to be quite wrong, I decided the best plan was to sneak off to Leighton Moss and maybe be able to dodge the rain between hides, as it turned out it was a pleasant day if a little windy, so away I went......

Just 15 mtrs through the gate to the Lower Hide from Silverdale Road a Tawny Owl flew out of a tree and soon disappeared out of view. At the hide I saw a 'large pipit' fly in front of the hide, I had decent views though the bird always remained half hidden but it really made me sit up, but the excitement soon faded away when I realised - after accounting for all the features I could see - it was a Skylark, however I do not recall ever seeing this species on the reserve before so at least I 'collected' a first even with the humble Skylark. There was little if anything else to enter my notes from the hide and I moved on to the Public Hide where there was 11 Greenshank on the island, a Little Egret flew over the mere as did a Bittern, I also noted c.50 Pochard, c.12 Gadwall, 3 female Pintail, and 2 Little Grebe. Quite a few Common Hawker were notable in front of the hide flying over the reeds all the time, do these creatures ever rest? Griesdale Hide was very quiet but another Little Egret was seen, a Raven 'honked' its way overhead and there was a 'few' Swallows still around and a Snipe in flight.

Greenshank from the Public Hide.

At the Eric Morecambe Hide the high tides have changed the scene and its birds and the recent Little Stints and Curlew Sandpiper's were nowhere to be seen, but 22 Little Egret - down on recent counts here - were a sight not personally seen before in such number......who would have thought just a few years ago! Also noted were 2 Spotted Redshank, and here it was surprising the difference in plumage for two adult birds one of which was in full winter plumage whilst the other still retained a little more of its summer appearance, c.30 Black - tailed Godwit and uncounted but small numbers of Pintail and Wigeon, a solitary Pink - footed Goose was to note, a lone early arrival or a bird having summered here?

The humble female Mallard walking the plank!

And finally......There was a quite humorous message came up on the pager today of a Little Auk at Bowness-on-Solway quote 'flying past the bus stop' unquote.

Cloudy......

......and grey and that's not just the weather.

It was pretty hard work again today and the 'star' bird
was an adult Mediterranean Gull again at Cockersands from the caravan park end for the third consecutive visit here. Also noted, a Little Egret flew over Plover Scar where there was 5 Turnstone, a single Grey Plover, c.20 Eider, 2 Wheatear and 5 Linnet of note. Earlier Conder Green was unbelievably quiet and the only time I got out my notebook was when I saw the adult Spotted Redshank in the creeks and the three now apparently resident Little Grebe on Conder Pool, but unfortunately I had no time to do the customary circular today and so my visit wasn't fully justified and was only done in part time birder fashion......not my style!

I'm pretty good at mis-timing things and the tide was almost at its height by the time I arrived at Knott End (some people never seem to learn) and I could only muster at least 80 Eider difficult to count in a heavy swell. Cockers Dyke was also almost a washout but I managed to 'grab' c.30 Golden Plover and a Little Egret before they also took to the wing to find some terra firma to sit out the tide.

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock to note were four Little Egret between Waterloo Cottage and the Conder Estuary, 22 Bar-tailed Godwit, a Greenshank, and 2 Goosander, common wader numbers were unremarkable here today.

All in all a bit of a 'dead duck' if I can be excused such weak pun, but just imagine I could have been railroaded into some painting and decorating - I don't think so - by someone I know very well. Thanks to David Cookson for the excellent image of a male Linnet to put a little colour on the blog.

And thanks also to Chris Batty for his photograph of Saturdays short stay Long- billed Dowitcher at Jamieson Road Landfill Site at Fleetwood.

Some pic's......

......and some WeBS counting today the bonus's of which were a juvenile Peregrine Falcon over Glasson Marsh from Bodie Hill which went away empty handed and obviously a bit to learn about hunting for survival. At Pilling Marsh 3 Wheatear and a Little Egret which will be something of a guarantee here for several months now I would suggest.

A nice little trio of Sanderling thanks to Phil Slade. I'd hazard a guess at being taken at Rossall Point though I did forget to note where on Phil's blog.

A juvenile Curlew Sandpiper at Cockers Dyke thanks to Chris Batty. Always worth an invasion here into Fylde territory with Med Gull's regular and lately Little Stint and Green Sandpiper of particular note, and I'll give RBA pager service a 'plug' here because all these sightings are always reported by them and 'pronto' at that.

And a Savannah Sparrow thanks to my contact Paul Baker from over the pond......thanks Paul. I could well be out of date on this one but my claim - until I'm challenged otherwise - is that only two records exist in Britain (and Europe) the first of which was a male at Portland Bill in Dorset on 11-16 April 1982, and the second was found at the opposite end of the country and in a different season, a 1st winter bird was on Fair Isle, Shetland on 30 September and 1 October 1987. A very interesting species 'split' here......perhaps another time!

Shearings Coach Holidays!

Well it was more like one than a birding day, sorry

BT no offence as I enjoyed the run into the Yorkshire Dales and The Forest of Bowland with one or two birds of note on the circular.

BT had decided we should head off to see if we could find (but didn't) the Marsh Gentian at a location I know about but which I feel I should remain silent about on the blog as the rare species is/should be a protected one. Hence the Grand Tour commenced and on Littledale Road I thought we had found our first Fieldfare of the winter but they turned out to be at least 12 Mistle Thrush, a Great - spotted Woodpecker was close by chipping away at a fence post.

On the Hornby Road above Lower Salter we came across a Little Owl sat on a boulder quite close to the road but despite my almost shouting the order to look at me it refused point blank to do so as can be seen in the decent pic I managed to achieve, also a Wheatear here along with a mix of c.40 Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit. Above Keasden on the road to Stocks Reservoir we saw at least 90 Meadow Pipit 'milling' around, and another Wheatear was seen on Bowland Knotts. We saw another c.30 more Meadow Pipit later over Champion Moor, by now a notable Meadow Pipit movement was obvious today.

Last call of the day was to Tower Lodge and a search up and behind the plantation to find a Spotted Flycatcher still here and beginning to look decidedly late now we are past mid September, 2 Buzzard were noted overhead.

I thanked the driver when I was dropped off back in Lancaster but decided not to tip him in case he thought he'd pull another one off like this on me again. Merely jesting BT and thanks as always for your excellent company.

You just have to......

......keep trying said the Swallow to itself as it approach three quarters of the way across the Sahara Desert, and I had to say the same to myself today as I gazed across Conder Pool to see little to stir me into anything remotely like excited and in desperation I noted everything (well nearly) I saw just to convince myself I should really keep trying. The three Little Grebe showed again which incidentally I will take a closer look at next time as two are in summer plumage yet and the third is either a juvenile or in winter plumage......Mmmmm. Also a Common Sandpiper, Kingfisher, 3 Linnet, and c.50 Goldfinch (breakaway group from Mondays 300?) and the female Mallard which initially had seven ducklings on 24 August now has just four well grown young which will stand a better chance of survival than the three which obviously didn't at the cruel hands of nature.

Because of the state of the tide I decided on a run to Knott End but only managed to record at least 75 Eider off the esplanade. On Pilling Marsh I found my first arrivals of the winter in c.145 Pink - footed Geese, also a Merlin, and Little Egret seen. At Cockersands c.350 Redshank had spread themselves from Crook Farm to Plover Scar, and at the caravan park end I found an adult Mediterranean Gull (not Mondays bird) and circa 250 Golden Plover, and 150 Wigeon. On the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock I found another adult Mediterranean Gull and noted 11 Bar-tailed Godwit one of which was in full breeding plumage, c.180 Golden Plover, a Greenshank, and a solitary Goosander.

Today's small picture gallery is courtesy of Mike Watson and is of his (Spotted) Red over Green images......Thanks Mike.

I know you're reading this John and it was good to meet you again today at Fluke Hall, thanks for your kind words and for the return of the book, look forward to seeing you again soon.

Well that's more like it!

On Clougha/Birk Bank today - with no time to search my records - for the first time in something like 5 years I had the distinct feeling the Stonechat was everywhere......Well that's more like it!......and in fact in the 5 hours on here I found 23 birds which represents the highest count here since finding 24 on 20 August 2007. So obviously some success's in last breeding attempts in 2009, but take it from me any success's earlier in the season were minimal - if any at all in most cases - and I'm not just talking this area either as many of the upland areas I observe have suffered the same fate due to yet another appalling summer in terms of weather, and in one case - Hawthornthwaite - I threw in the towel here having found just one bird this year on my visit of 16 March and none at all on subsequent visits.

Well you don't create a New Year style list on upland birding and today I collected just seven species with 9 off passage Wheatear, at least 31 Red Grouse, a Dunnock - which I reckon is my first on here - 7 Wren, and a kestrel, just 7 Meadow Pipit were seen today and a non birding person I often see up here made a comment to me that he had noted low numbers this year to which I readily agreed was the case in general based on my experience's of this bird this summer though I'm sure the 15 September on Clougha wouldn't be the ideal time/place to pass judgement on this issue. Butterflies noted were a miserable 3 Painted Lady and 2 Small Tortoiseshell.

And if you're not already bored by all the above then try this......Not for the first time the pic above is absolutely nothing concerning this post but is a pleasant image taken at Knott End by Phil Slade, the purpose being that at least it will make him happy to see it on Birds2blog if it doesn't you......Thanks Phil.